


In the Interest of Honesty

by lionessvalenti



Category: Black Panther (2018), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Arranged Marriage, M/M, Mpreg, Not Thor: Ragnarok (2017) Mid-Credits Scene Compliant, past trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-22
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2020-01-12 10:45:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18444950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lionessvalenti/pseuds/lionessvalenti
Summary: Bucky had told Loki he wouldn't lie. This was a case of misinformation.





	In the Interest of Honesty

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Unforgotten](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Unforgotten/gifts).



"I'm not going to lie to you," Bucky said on the day met Loki. It was one of the first things he'd said, in fact. They were still negotiating out the details of the marriage pact, but it seemed like it was going to go through. "I'd like to have the same courtesy in return."

Loki smirked in response, crossing his arms over his chest. "That seems unlikely."

Bucky smiled. "See? We're already starting off on the right foot."

* * *

"I can't be pregnant," Bucky said, his voice shaking slightly. The thought had been in the back of his mind when he went to Shuri for a run of tests, but he hadn't actually thought it was _possible_.

"You've been pregnant before," Shuri replied slowly. "Why is this so much more difficult to believe?"

"I was..." Bucky paused and swallowed hard. He never talked about his previous pregnancies outside of a quick mention when discussing medical history. It was easier to keep it that way, to not think of the wailing babies taken away as _his_. "Those pregnancies were artificially implanted. I was a surrogate. I didn't think I could get pregnant naturally."

Shuri's brow furrowed as she stepped closer to him. She pressed the back of her hand to his forehead for a couple seconds. "You're clammy and pale. Are you going to pass out?"

He shook his head, but there was a faint dizziness that came with it. "No, I'm fine."

"Do you want to terminate?" Her tone was light, nonjudgmental.

"No." Bucky didn't hesitate. "I think I want to go home."

She nodded, and a little smile flicked at the corners of her mouth. "Things are going well with your husband then?"

"What?" Bucky hadn't even thought about that. What was he supposed to say? He'd specifically told Loki he didn't think any of it worked. Now he was going to say he'd been wrong and there was no telling how that would go over.

Her smile turned to a full blown grin, and it honestly set him at ease that she was going to tease him. "You don't get pregnant from doing nothing, White Wolf."

"Oh." He let out a laugh. "We, uh, don't have problems there. But I don't know what he's going to think about this."

"He's a tricky one, isn't he?" Shuri asked. She leaned against the table in a sort of commiserating pose, though she could not commiserate at all. Bucky had met _her_ boyfriend, who was sweet as pie and not a former (hopefully former) super villain.

"He is," Bucky agreed. "It keeps things interesting."

Shuri sent Bucky home with a bag full of prenatal vitamins and a generally positive attitude. His stomach was still twisted into knots, but he at least knew the truth. He could put the pregnancies of his past out of his mind. It wasn't going to be like that now, no matter how many ways he could imagine this going wrong. Assuming he went to term, he would have a child. One that was unequivocally his, and no one would take this child from him.

There were still doubts, but there was no worst case scenario more devastating than anything he'd already faced.

The home Bucky shared with Loki was little more than a two room shack on the outside, but inside it was cozy and technologically astounding. Bucky opened the door with his thumbprint and stepped inside.

"Hey."

Loki looked up from his book. He was sitting on the straw mat that served as their bed, barefoot, wearing a pair of black pants and a dark blue shirt with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows. "Hello."

Bucky swallowed. Loki looking like that was exactly how they got in this mess. They had spent about the first week of their marriage walking uncomfortable circles around each other until one day Bucky had said, "We should have sex". Loki agreed, and it had been _good_. Now, four months later, they were still making a habit of it.

For all of Loki's complaining about their lack of a proper bed, they'd had a lot of good times on that mat (and in the shower, and also behind the house one time during a particularly beautiful sunset because it turned out Loki was irresistible during golden hour, not that Bucky would tell him that; Loki didn't need more of an ego on him). It was just about the only way they connected. They certainly didn't talk about their feelings. Or at all.

"Can we talk?"

Loki's expression shifted immediately to suspicious, but he closed the book. "Yes?"

Bucky sort of hoped Loki would get up, but when he stayed on the bed, hardcover book still in his hands, Bucky decided to sit down next to him. "Remember when I said I wouldn't lie to you?"

"Did you?" Loki raised his eyebrows. He set the book down in his lap, his attention now on Bucky's face.

"I gave you misinformation. I thought it was a truth when I told it to you."

"When I do that people still call them lies."

Bucky smiled because he knew Loki was teasing him in his own, contrary way. "Well, I didn't intend to lie and I'm sorry."

Loki reached his hand up and touched Bucky's cheek. His hands were still soft even after the manual labor he had surprisingly put in to build up the Asgardian camp in Wakanda. They were truly building something from the ground up, and Bucky was grateful to be part of it, even if only by his own sweat and marriage.

"What is it?" Loki asked. He sounded suspicious, but his expression was almost worried.

Bucky took a breath. He had a sudden awareness of how insane this entire situation was. He was married to a literal god he'd only known for four months and now they were going to have a baby. They were both murderers. Loki had a history of faking his own death and then running off and impersonating other people. How the hell were they supposed to do this? If Loki wanted a part of it at all, which at the moment was the biggest question mark.

"Bucky?

He snapped to attention. "Sorry. I, um." He closed his eyes. "I'm pregnant."

Loki's hand dropped. "Oh."

Bucky opened his eyes, and found Loki's face generally unchanged. He didn't appear angry or annoyed, or like he was about to bolt, a thing Bucky had been warned by many people could happen even before the prospect of _children_ came into play. He still appeared slightly concerned, and maybe a little confused.

"If I had known all of the equipment worked like that, I would have told you," Bucky said. He'd told Loki about it after they got married, mostly since it was impossible to physically hide, but he hadn't gone into detail beyond none of it working like a traditional reproductive system. "I honestly didn't think I could get pregnant from sex."

"I believe you," Loki replied. He gripped the book in his lap with both hands, his knuckles turning pale under the strain. "Are you all right with this?"

Bucky took a shaky breath. "I'm fine. It might not even matter. I've had a lot of miscarriages. It's an artificial womb, so sometimes it doesn't work properly. There were a few that went to term, but most of them ended before then. There's a lot of things that can go wrong, even with the healthcare here. Shuri offered to terminate if I wanted, but--"'

"No." Loki cut him off sharply. "You're carrying a prince of Asgard. You cannot voluntarily end the pregnancy. And of course it matters."

There was probably a conversation about bodily autonomy that they were never going to discuss in there, but Bucky let it slide since he had no interest in terminating.

"Prince?" he repeated instead.

"Or princess," Loki said, his tone softer now. "I suppose the old ways of royalty have passed us since Asgard has changed, but this is still sign of growth. That we are capable of growing."

"And you're not upset?" Bucky asked.

Loki shook his head. "No, I'm not. I'm... I'm pleased." He didn't smile or give any outward signs of _being_ pleased, but hearing the words was nice, even if it was a lie.

"And you want to raise the baby?"

He took a few moments, considering the question before replying, "In this moment, I believe I do. I've never considered fatherhood -- I had no real example of it for myself -- but the idea of progeny is appealing."

For the first time in days, since the remote prospect of pregnancy had entered his mind, all of Bucky's anxiety dissipated. He nearly sagged over with relief. He leaned against the wall and rested his hands across his abdomen. It was still flat, but it wouldn't be for much longer.

"I guess we're having the first Asgardian-human baby."

"Ah, yes," Loki said, grimacing. "About that."

Bucky stiffened slightly. "What about it?"

"In the interest of the honesty you're so insistent upon, I feel I should disclose that I'm not technically -- biologically -- Asgardian. I was taken as baby from Jotunheim and raised in Asgard. In every other regard, I'm Aesir, except that one." 

Loki held Bucky's gaze as he spoke, and like most things Loki said, Bucky had to figure out if it was a lie. It seemed like a ridiculous thing to lie about, and one so easy to have confirmed, Bucky took it for truth.

Bucky smiled. "That doesn't seem like an issue."

"No," Loki said. He leaned in a bit closer. "How do you feel about the color blue?"

"I like blue fine," Bucky replied, a little bewildered by the question.

"Good." Loki set his book aside completely and leaned toward Bucky. His lips brushed Bucky's cheek as his arm snaked over the flesh hand still resting on Bucky's belly. He smiled. "I do quite like the idea of having impregnated you. Makes me feel virile."

Bucky tried not to laugh, knowing that would put Loki in a foul mood for the rest day, but he smiled. He twisted slightly so he could kiss Loki on the mouth. Loki groaned, his grip tightening on Bucky's hand as his tongue pushed into Bucky's mouth.

"Extremely virile," Bucky mumbled as Loki pushed him flat down on the mat. Above him, Loki huffed, knowing Bucky was teasing him, but he didn't stop, his hand pushing up the front of Bucky's shirt as he kissed him again. His cool fingertips brushed against Bucky's nipple.

Bucky kissed along Loki's jaw. "You know you can't get me more pregnant, right?" he mumbled, as Loki slotted his thigh between Bucky's legs.

"Who knows what I can do," Loki replied, nuzzling his face to Bucky's. "We're going to have to get a real bed."

Bucky raised his eyebrows. "Yeah?"

Loki kissed his cheek. "You'll need to be comfortable in the coming months, and you won't be comfortable on the floor."

"And it's certainly for me and not because you hate the mat?"

Loki appeared to be completely impassive, his eyes wide with perceived innocence. "My distaste for this mat has nothing with your comfort. If I benefit from making your pregnancy easier, then it's a pure coincidence."

This time, Bucky did laugh. "I'll survive on the mat. It's better than what I had for any of my other pregnancies."

Any trace of a smile disappeared from Loki's expression. He sat up a little, though not quite pulling away, his weight still resting comfortably against Bucky's body, his hand still cool against Bucky's skin. "Listen: your past is behind you now. Regardless of how we came together, you still married into royalty. You live in the most advanced country on your planet. And this is your child. You can provide yourself the luxury of a bed."

Bucky's breath caught in his chest. This was possibly the most genuine he'd ever heard Loki speak, and it actually brought the slight burn of tears to his eyes. The goddamn hormones. He swallowed hard. "Maybe a bed is a good idea."

A slow smile spread across Loki's face. He pressed a kiss the side of Bucky's neck and nipped his earlobe. "All of my ideas are good ones."

"Mmmm," Bucky replied noncommittally. He could bring up all the murder, but he wasn't going to mention it when he could be having sex instead. He turned his head for a kiss. "Show me how virile you are."

Loki growled into Bucky's ear, but did exactly that.


End file.
